Let common sense and truth guide you in life.

A Liberal rant brought to you by printer gremlins…

One should never listen to Real Time with Bill Maher podcast and then mess with a printer. It just exacerbates printer frustration till a person is tempted to beat it to electronic death with a hammer. Time to settle in for a minor life story before the political rant…inspired by Bill Maher.

I have since found a way of expressing myself through t-shirts with the use of printable iron-on decals. The process is fairly easy: come up with a t-shirt design on your computer, print it up on special paper, and iron it on a t-shirt. Presto! An incredibly unique and wearable t-shirt is made.

This idea came to me while I was wandering around Michaels. I came upon a section with plain t-shirts and various accessories available to decorate them . Among the many assorted items were iron-on shirt decals. I had recently bought plain t-shirts since suitable graphic t-shirts were disappointing, and I found a few wonderful decals that expressed me perfectly. (I wonder what the CEO of Michaels would think knowing that someone with questionable mainstream religious values was utilizing their store for purposes other than fake moralistic Christian values. If you didn’t know, Michaels is a Christian company…like Chick-fil-A.)

Later, I learned that Avery made special 8 1/2 x 11 iron-on decals that you can us in an ink-jet printer. (They’re cheaper if you buy the Target knock off.) I spent a good part of today fighting with my printer, thinking that my printer was messing up on purpose…or I had a sever infestation of gremlins. A friend of mine noticed that the printer messed up at a certain spot in the special paper and that the printer couldn’t “deal” with that certain texture of paper. Hence, we concluded that I would buy a pack of the printer iron-ons, make a whole bunch of designs, and go to FedEx-Kinkos to print them out. Since I’ll us my own supplies, the prints will likely be $.20 or $.30 each.

While the solution to my problem is obvious, I’m still frustrated that I couldn’t print a full page of a wonderfully smart t-shirt design on my own printer. I’ve been looking forward to this particular masterminded originality. Yet, I find my frustration particularly magnified since in the back of my mind, while wrestling with the mass of electronic stubbornness, I was thinking of Bill Maher’s rant in the last six minutes of his recent episode. I download the podcasts of his show to listen to in my car. Since it’s free, it’s cheaper than getting HBO.

I wish to share a few snippets of his rant, but HBO is incredibly stingy in the availability of online show line-ups — meaning you have to already pay extra for the privilege of watching HBO on TV. If anyone wishes to hear the whole rant, download the 5-25-2012 episode from iTunes and fast forward to the last six minutes when he starts talking about Ted Nugent. In the meantime, I transcribed the rant so I could use snippets of it in my blog.

I whole-heartedly agreed with everything that Bill had to say and the truth made me incredibly angry. When he began, I was angry with the Republicans and their unreasonable dislike of President Barak Obama. They dislike him so much, that they continuously lie about his character!

Now, it somehow became an article of faith on the Right that Obama is the most extreme President in American History…

Let me give you some examples.

Newt Gingrich called Obama the most radical leftist President in history.

Senator Marco Rubio called him the most decisive figure in American history.

Michelle Bachman said that he is the most radical President we have ever seen in the history of the country, and when has Michelle Bachman ever been known to misjudge a man?

John Bolton said Obama just doesn’t care about national security.

At the end of this list, my question is the same as Bill’s. Where is the extremism that they’re talking about? For example, is it that he didn’t have a Christmas tree in the White House? Guess what! That was a rumor already proven false like several rumors Republicans and Fox News spout. These rumors are designed to take advantage of the ignorance of the American population. What I find particularly scary is that it actually works on some of the population.

I remember the Christmas Tree rumor. I also remember the outrage of a particular coworker when she heard this rumor and thought it was the truth. She couldn’t believe it and expressed her disappointed disbelief at the abject catastrophe of this seemingly traditional snub. While she ranted, I made some noncommittal noises pretending that I was listening.

Personally, I don’t care if the White House doesn’t have a Christmas Tree. In fact, I would celebrate the day if a President decided against having one. It goes against “separation of church and state” and likely offends religions that don’t celebrate Christmas. The White House Christmas Tree shows favoritism to one religion and is an abomination in the face of this nation that is made up of several religions. Christianity, Catholicism, and the like should not take precedence over other religions. I don’t care how much they state that they are the “one true religion.” They must learn tolerance of other faiths and they refuse.

Roughly a year later, another coworker at a different job ranted about her hatred that the academic “Christmas Break” was changed to “Winter Break.” She said that she would continue to call it “Christmas Break” because she’s not afraid to “love her God”…or something like that. I did the same as what I did the previous year and made noncommittal noises while secretly glad that some traditions are changing to stop the exclusion of American people of differing religious beliefs. Granted, Christianity and Catholicism are big religions in this country. Yet, I reiterate that such things like “Christmas Break” exclude those Americans that do not believe in those particular religions. If you ask me, that exclusion is incredibly unAmerican.

I find it beyond stupid that there were people who believed Obama did not have a Christmas Tree in the White House and were outraged by the notion. It shows their steadfast belief in misinformation without double-checking the facts and their unwillingness to evolve tolerance of fellow non-Christian Americans.

It is American to do research into these statements and judge the President’s character by what you find. There is a severe lack of this obvious common sense. There isn’t a lot to be taken at face value these days.

The rumor is a good example on how unchanged things have been since Obama has taken office. Namely, Obama still has a Christmas Tree in the White House in December. As Bill Maher stated:

I travel all over this country doing stand up and since Obama has been President…What? It’s still the exact same Kentucky Fried-country that it has always been! I see it! People driving their cars to the mall, buying stupid sh**, stuffing their faces, taking pictures! The only difference is we bump into each other more because we’re all texting! We haven’t lost our freedoms. I’m pretty sure the only things Obama has killed are Bin Laden and Donald Trumps last shred of dignity.

Most Americans are still materialistic jerks that walk around texting instead of talking on their phones. If I were President, I’d find a way to ban texting. It breeds a lack of civility that this society can hardly afford to lose. That is a good example of taking away a freedom enjoyed by most ignorant Americans.

You want an example of freedoms being taken away, I can list a few that are being taken away at a state level by Republicans. There are one or two States attempting to make it illegal to be a single parent, several states are chipping away at abortion rights, and most states taking away several women’s rights to preventative health care.

I wish that Obama was a radically liberal President. Just imagine all the things we would enjoy! Bill listed a few possibilities in his rant.

If Obama were as radical as [Republicans] claimed, here’s what he would have already done:

Pulled the troops out of Afghanistan.

Given us Medicare for all.

Ended the drug war.

Cut the defense budget in half.

and turn Dick Chaney over to the Hague.

There are still American soldiers risking their lives in Afghanistan. They’ll eventually all be home, but not right away. It’ll happen over a period of years. At least they will eventually get home whereas Republicans have no problems in attempting to commit us to more wars that we simply can’t afford.

Those who have read my blog before know my reasons for liking “Medicare for all.” I’ve given two personal stories demonstrating what life is like without access to affordable health care. There are decisions that must be made by potential patients without the aid of needed medical advice from an actual physician. Something as simple as a sinus infection costing the sufferer roughly $140 to try and cure. If a person has been lucky enough to have health insurance all their life, they should not make judgements on others until they understand the perspective of the other side. The side of hard working people who can’t afford health insurance who don’t deserve the ridicule of people who have it better.

Now that we are no longer fighting two wars, we don’t need the massive defense budget. There are generals who have approved the cutting of the defense budget and admit they don’t need the exorbitant level of spending. Yet there are Republicans who know next to nothing about the military, who haven’t even served in the military, that are arguing the point with experienced generals. That, in my opinion, is a blatant lack of common sense.

(On a side note, any plan that makes Dick Chaney some other country’s problem is fine by me!)

Now that we have an example of what a radical liberal president would do (everything that I approve of), here’s a list of what the non-radical President Obama has actually done.

He cut taxes and spending… That’s not what Liberals wanted, that’s what Conservatives wanted.

Under Obama, there’s more [oil] drilling than ever… That’s not what Environmentalists wanted, that’s what Conservatives wanted.

Obama spent most of last year conceding the Republican premise that government needed cutting. That’s not what Progressives wanted, that’s what the Tea Party wanted.

The DOW was at 7,949 when he took office. Now it’s 12,000 and over. Corporate profits are at their highest ever.

Here’s the other thing that angered me while wrestling with my errant printer. President Obama has given a lot to the Conservative movement. In my opinion, he’s their best friend, a moderate Conservative in disguised as a Democrat that is likely to side with them than any true Liberal in the government!

If you watch the Ed Schultz Show or The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, they express that in order to help the economy recover, you can’t just have private sector job growth. There must be public sector job growth as well. Republicans love to tout small government ideals despite their increasing intrusion into the bedrooms and general private lives of the LGBT community and women. Obama has been shrinking government! The reason why the jobs numbers aren’t topping the unemployment numbers this month is because we’ve lost more public sector jobs!

Yes, Obama can help create jobs. He can employ people into the public sector while helping the private sector. Yet, that is not what he’s doing. Through helping “small business,” he’s attempting to create private sector jobs only. This is still within the teachings of Republicans since they believe that private businesses are the “job creators.” It’s simply that Obama is putting their ideals to use on a lesser scale.

As Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow have stated on their shows several times, we have tried it the Republican way. When corporations received tax breaks and “free government money,” they moved a good deal of their operations overseas! In this way, they got to make more money. Let me reiterate. They took the money given to create jobs for Americans and instead took away American jobs while creating jobs for foreigners in other countries all to make more money that American workers will never see.

Levi Strauss & Co. do not make the famously American Levi jeans in America anymore. Those jeans are made in Egypt. (I looked on the tag of my Levi’s.). Most clothes bought in America are no longer made in America. They’re made in China, Indonesia, and Egypt.

Whiskas Cat Food owned by Mars Inc. isn’t even made in America. It’s made in Thailand!

Call customer service for GE Money, Verizon, ATT, etc. and you’re likely to get someone from India with a fake English name. I called customer service for one of these companies last week and received a person from India. We spent half an hour trying to get my address right because she couldn’t understand me!

Giving money to large companies such as these obviously hasn’t brought jobs back to America and they’re not going to come back anytime soon. In the meantime, Obama does have the right idea giving money to small business. He just needs to follow through by making more public sector jobs readily available, to give monetary aid to states so teachers and first aid responders can get back to work.

If the Republicans define Liberalist ideals to be big government, than they should be happy because they’re getting what they want: Smaller government. As Bill said after the list of Conservative things Obama has done, ” If [Obama’s] a socialist, he’s a lousy one.”

Some are probably confused since I have stated that I will cast my vote for Obama in November and here I am stating how Obama is lacking in Liberalistic integrity. Here is something else that makes me angry, the fact that I’m only given two choices.

It’s either Mitt Romney for the Republicans or President Barak Obama for the Democrats. There is no known third party option. I remember the New Years party I went to where politics one of many discussion topics. One person commented, “I will vote for the candidate that will screw me less.” Most Americans feel like this, even those who do their research on the candidates and are totally disgusted with what they find.

I understand there’s a reason why there are so many Americans who don’t do their duty in voting. What’s the bother in going to the voting booth and casting a ballot where you marked down nothing? There are also Americans who think their one vote won’t make a difference.

Here’s the rub. President Barak Obama is the candidate that will screw you less. If you look at his accomplishments, he has taken steps to make things better for Americans despite his moderate Conservative leanings. Mitt Romney lies repeatedly. He lies so much that there are reporters chronicling his lies weekly. If he’s this deceptive before getting into office, I shudder to think what he’ll be like as a leader after he is elected. It’s a nightmare that I continually have.

Unfortunately, there are many people willing to vote for the mendacious Mitt primarily because he is not Obama. Their vote will make it an extremely close race in which every vote will count.

Don’t keep that ballot blank. Vote for a candidate because those candidates — Federal and State — will have an affect on your life in the future. This election is personal for me. I was successfully raised by a single parent yet there are states attempting to make single parenting illegal. I rely on Planned Parenthood for preventative cancer testing and other personal female needs and there are states defunding Planned Parenthood clinics.

Since my part-time job (the only job I can get though I have been constantly trying for something better) does not give me health benefits and I can’t afford health insurance because of preconceived pre-existing conditions (i.e., my height and weight), I can’t go to a doctor with the means to test a few painful digestive problems I’ve been having to see if they’re serious or not. The clinics have all pointed me towards the ER to get the testing I need. Going to the ER is something that I haven’t done because I figure if I’m going to spend thousands of dollars on medical treatment, it better be life-threatening. Even then, I’m probably going to write a note with my last conscious effort to not resuscitate me. (I have come to the conclusion that it’s cheaper to die than live.) The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will make it easier for me to see a physician so I don’t have a choose between my life and an exorbitant bill I’ll be paying the rest of my life.

I can continue with the personal experiences, examples on how these candidates — if chosen — can impact the lives of average Americans. I think I’ve made my point.

So go and vote. If you can’t vote for a candidate that you can whole-heartedly back, than vote for a candidate that will screw you less and fervently hope for a third party option in the future.